This invention relates to a portable drinking fountain intended for use in combination with an existing irrigation water supply system. The invention is intended for use on athletic fields, golf courses, and other open areas which are provided with underground irrigation systems.
It has become common in the past ten to fifteen years to equip athletic fields, especially practice fields, golf courses and other open areas with underground irrigation systems. These irrigation systems typically comprise an underground water supply conduit which is provided at predetermined intervals with upwardly projecting outlet valves which lie substantially flush with the ground. These outlet valves are normally provided with a cover to protect the valve mechanism from trash and to eliminate the hazard of having exposed holes in an area where athletic activity is conducted. The underground water supply conduit is normally supplied with water under pressure. When desired, a sprinkler head can be inserted into the outlet valve, which outlet valve simultaneously provides a support for holding the sprinkler in an upright position, and also activates the outlet valve permitting water to flow into and through the sprinkler head.
Because of the expense of providing a separate underground system for drinking water, conventional water fountains are seldom found on athletic practice fields, golf courses and the like. It is therefore a common practice, for example during football or baseball training and practice, to carry large containers of water for drinking and paper cups to the practice field. This method of providing drinking water is very time consuming, since each cup must be filled in turn, and then perhaps refilled one or more times.
This requires considerable effort on a regular basis to insure that team members are provided with an adequate supply of water as replacement for body fluids lost through exertion or heat. The importance of providing athletes with an adequate water supply during exertion has been recently recognized as contributing greatly toward the prevention of heat exhaustion. In the past, athletes were denied fluids during practice on the belief that it caused cramps. In more recent years, athletes have been provided with electrolyte beverages in order to replace salt loss as a result of physical exertion. More recently, it has been learned that an adequate supply of cool, but not cool, water is important in preventing heat exhaustion.